U.S. patent application number 16/083530 was filed with the patent office on 2019-03-07 for chain having an electroless nickel coating containing hard particles.
The applicant listed for this patent is BorgWarner Inc.. Invention is credited to Mohammadreza BATENIGHAS-RMANESH, Matthew E. JUNKER, Yumin WANG.
Application Number | 20190071780 16/083530 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 59789648 |
Filed Date | 2019-03-07 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20190071780 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
JUNKER; Matthew E. ; et
al. |
March 7, 2019 |
CHAIN HAVING AN ELECTROLESS NICKEL COATING CONTAINING HARD
PARTICLES
Abstract
A method of applying a wear resistant surface to chain links and
pins of a chain by the application of an electroless nickel coating
containing hard particles. The coating reduces the friction on the
chain links and associated chain components, such as pins,
bushings, rockers and other components. The hard particles
contained in the coating may be a carbide or nitride formed using
the following elements: silicon, boron, chromium or vanadium. The
coating may contain a combination of carbide or nitrides. The hard
particles may additional include natural diamond and/or synthetic
diamond like carbon (DLC) particles.
Inventors: |
JUNKER; Matthew E.;
(Cortland, NY) ; BATENIGHAS-RMANESH; Mohammadreza;
(Ithaca, NY) ; WANG; Yumin; (Ithaca, NY) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
BorgWarner Inc. |
Auburn Hills |
MI |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
59789648 |
Appl. No.: |
16/083530 |
Filed: |
March 10, 2016 |
PCT Filed: |
March 10, 2016 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/US2016/021701 |
371 Date: |
September 10, 2018 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
C23C 18/32 20130101;
C25F 1/00 20130101; C23C 18/1848 20130101; C23C 18/1662 20130101;
C23C 18/1844 20130101; F16G 13/06 20130101; F16G 13/04
20130101 |
International
Class: |
C23C 18/32 20060101
C23C018/32; C23C 18/16 20060101 C23C018/16; C23C 18/18 20060101
C23C018/18; C25F 1/00 20060101 C25F001/00 |
Claims
1. A method of improving the wear characteristics of chain links
and/or chain components comprising the steps of: a) cleaning the
chain links and/or chain components with an alkaline agent to
remove any foreign contaminants; b) rinsing the chain links and/or
chain components to remove the alkaline agent from the chain links
and/or chain components; c) cleaning of the chain links and/or
chain components; d) rinsing the chain links and/or chain
components at least once; e) subjecting the chain links and/or
chain components to acid activation by immersing the chain links
and/or chain components in an acid bath; f) rinsing the chain links
and/or chain components with tap water at least once to remove acid
from the acid bath on the chain links/and or chain components; g)
applying an electroless nickel coating containing hard particles of
a carbide or nitride formed using elements chosen from a group
consisting of silicon, boron, chromium and vanadium to the chain
links and/or chain components by immersing the chain links and/or
chain components in a bath at a temperature of 180-190.degree. F.
with a pH of 4.8 to 5.2; and h) rinsing the coated chain links
and/or chain components at least once; wherein the chain components
comprise bushings, pins, rockers and rollers.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to step (a) of cleaning the
chain links and/or chain components with the alkaline agent, the
chain links and/or chain components are rinsed with tap water for
at least two minutes at room temperature.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the alkaline agent in step (a) is
a combination of hydroxide, carbonate, silicates, phosphates and
other organic surfactants.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein in step (a) the alkaline agent is
applied at a temperature of 160-180.degree. F. for 5 minutes.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the cleaning in step (c) is
electro-cleaning, and the cleaning is carried out at a temperature
of 165-185.degree. F. for 5 minutes at 30 ASF.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the acid bath of step (e)
contains sulfuric acid a concentration range of 5-10%.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the acid bath of step (e)
contains hydrochloric acid at a concentration range of 30-50%.
8. The method of claim 1 in which the acid bath in step (e) is
diluted at room temperature with distilled water.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the hard particles applied in
step (g) further comprise synthetic diamond-like carbon
particles.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the coating applied to the chain
components and/or chain links in step (g) is applied until the
coating reaches a thickness between 14 to 25 microns
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step, after step
(h), of drying the links and/or chain components.
12. The method of claim 1 in which the steps of rinsing are done
with tap water at room temperature.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
[0001] The invention pertains to the field of chains. More
particularly, the invention pertains to a chain having an
electroless nickel coating containing hard particles for improved
resistance to corrosion and wear.
Description of Related Art
[0002] Electroless nickel (EN) plating is an auto-catalytic
chemical technique used to deposit a layer of nickel-phosphorus or
nickel-boron alloy on a solid workpiece which may be made of metal
or plastic. The process relies on the presence of a reducing agent,
for example hydrated sodium hypophosphite
(NaPO.sub.2H.sub.2.H.sub.2O) which reacts with the metal ions to
deposit metal on the workpiece. Unlike electroplating, it is not
necessary to pass an electric current through the solution to form
a deposit on the workpiece. This plating technique is used to
prevent corrosion and wear. EN techniques can also be used to
manufacture composite coatings by suspending powder in a bath.
[0003] Another coating that may be applied to an article or
workpiece is a plasma vapor deposition (PVD). PVD is a vacuum
deposition method which may be used to produce thin films on an
article. PVD uses a physical process, such as heating or
sputtering, to produce a vapor of material which is then deposited
on the article or object.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] A method of improving the wear and corrosion characteristics
of a chain by applying a wear resistant electroless nickel coating
containing hard particles to chain links and pins of a chain. The
coating reduces the friction on the chain links and associated
chain components, such as pins, bushings, rockers and other
components. The hard particles contained in the coating may be a
carbide or nitride formed using the following elements: silicon,
boron, chromium or vanadium. The coating may contain a combination
of carbide or nitrides. The hard particles may additional include
natural diamond and/or synthetic diamond-like carbon (DLC)
particles.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0005] FIGS. 1a-1b show a method of coating chain components with
an electroless nickel coating containing hard particles.
[0006] FIG. 2 shows a schematic of a chain link.
[0007] FIG. 3 shows a section of the chain link.
[0008] FIG. 4 shows a graph of wear performance of a chain with
Ni--SiC electroless coated chain links and carbo-nitrided pins vs.
a chain without coated links with carbo-nitrided pins, with
performance measured by the percent of chain elongation and test
hours.
[0009] FIG. 5 shows a graph of wear performance of a chain with
Ni--SiC electroless coated links and vanadium carbide coated pins
vs. chain without coated links with vanadium carbide coated pins,
with performance measured by the percent of chain elongation and
test hours.
[0010] FIG. 6 shows a graph of chain efficiency vs. input speed for
chains with and without electroless nickel coated links.
[0011] FIG. 7a shows a top view of a chain with rollers.
[0012] FIG. 7b shows a side view of the chain with rollers of FIG.
7a.
[0013] FIG. 7c shows a section of the chain with rollers along line
7c-7c of FIG. 7a.
[0014] FIG. 8a shows a top view of a chain without rollers.
[0015] FIG. 8b shows a side view of the chain without rollers of
FIG. 8a.
[0016] FIG. 8c shows a section of the chain without rollers along
line 8c-8c of FIG. 8a.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] Chain links and chain pins when assembled together form a
chain. Chains undergo wear due to friction between the chain links
and other engine components, friction between associated chain
links of the same chain and friction between the links and
associated chain components, which can include bushings, rollers,
pins and rocker pins. An example of a chain 38 with rollers is
shown in FIGS. 7a-7c and an example of a chain 48 without rollers
is shown in FIGS. 8a-8c. This friction also occurs at the interface
between the apertures of the chain links and bushings, the
apertures and rollers or apertures and pins.
[0018] One example of a chain link and its associated components is
shown in FIGS. 7a-7c. FIGS. 7a-7c show an example of a chain with
rollers. The chain links 30, 31 of the chain 38 each have a body
36, 37 and apertures 34. The apertures 34 receive bushings 35 and
pins 33 to connect link 30 to link 31 together into a chain. A
roller 32 is also present on the pin 33 between the chain links 30.
It should be noted that the shape of the link is for example
purposes only. Deviations in the shape of the link may be possible
and would be within the scope of the invention.
[0019] FIGS. 8a-8c shows an example of a chain without rollers and
is another example of chain links and associated components. The
chain links 40, 41 of the chain 48 each have a body 46, 47 and
apertures 44. The apertures 44 receive bushings 45 and pins 43 to
connect link 40 to link 41 together into a chain. It should be
noted that the shape of the link is for example purposes only.
Deviations in the shape of the link may be possible and would be
within the scope of the invention.
[0020] FIGS. 2-3 show yet another example of a chain link 10 and
its associated components, such as pins 14 and/or bushings 15. The
chain link 10 has a body 11 with teeth 12 and apertures 13. The
apertures 13 may receive bushings 15, or just receive pins 14 to
connect multiple chain links together into a chain (not shown).
While a round pin is shown, any shaped pin including a rocker pin
and rollers may be placed in the apertures 13. Furthermore, it
should be noted that the shape of the link is for example purposes
only. Deviations in the shape of the link may be possible and would
be within the scope of the invention.
[0021] In the present invention, a chain link 10, 30, 31, 40, 41
and/or associated components such as chain pins 14, 33, 43, roller
32, and bushings 15, 35, 45 receive an electroless nickel coating
which has embedded hard particles. The electroless nickel coating
with hard particles creates a wear resistant and low friction
coating which decreases wear and friction in the portions of the
chain that contact each other or contact other chain or engine
components, improving the performance of the chain. Furthermore, by
applying the electroless nickel coating with hard particles to the
link surfaces that come into contact with engine components, such
as arms, guides and sprockets, the wear performance (e.g. resisting
wear) is improved.
[0022] Referring to FIG. 3, the base material 20 of the chain link
10, 30, 31, 40, 41 is of a first material indicated by the angled
lines. In one embodiment, the base material may be steel and/or
other ferrous alloys. In alternate embodiment, the base material
may be one or a combination of: aluminum, aluminum alloy, copper,
copper alloy, magnesium alloy, titanium alloys, zinc alloy, or
non-metallic substrates such as ceramics. The electroless nickel
coating 21 is applied to the surface of the base material 20 by a
method described below. The electroless nickel coating 21 comprises
a second material different than the first material, and includes
hard particles 22 indicated by the hexagons in FIG. 3.
[0023] A first step in the method of applying an electroless nickel
coating including hard particles to a base material of the chain
link and/or chain components is to rinse the base metal of the
chain links and/or components with water. Tap water at room
temperature is preferably used at this step (step 100), although it
will be understood that the water could be filtered and recycled,
or heated or cooled, and solvents or surfactants might be added, as
might be desired for a particular application. The rinsing of the
chain links and/or chain components may take place for at least two
minutes. The rinse time may be longer than two minutes and may be
influenced by the rinse quality, temperatures and agitation.
[0024] Then, the chain links and/or chain components are cleaned
using an alkaline agent (step 102) to prevent and cleanse any dirt
and remove any foreign contaminants including rust. The alkaline
cleaning agent may contain a combination of hydroxide, carbonate,
silicates, phosphates and other organic surfactants and is applied
at a temperature of 160-180.degree. F. for 5 minutes. The alkaline
agent is then rinsed from the chain links and/or chain components,
again preferably using tap water at room temperature (step 104).
The alkaline agent is rinsed from the chain links and/or chain
components for two minutes or greater.
[0025] After the chain links and/or chain components are rinsed,
they undergo electro-cleaning. In this process, the chain links
and/or chain components are connected to a positive (anode) side of
a rectifier.
[0026] The electro-cleaning tales place between 165.degree.
F.-185.degree. F. for 5 minutes at 30 amps per square foot (ASF)
(step 106). Alkaline cleaning blends use an electrolyte which
contains a mixture of alkaline material to provide high
conductivity and alkalinity. Due to the lower cost, sodium salts
are frequently used. However, potassium based electro-cleaners have
better solubility, lower electrical resistance, and better throwing
power.
[0027] Prior to immersing the chain links and/or chain components
into the acid bath of step 112, it is important to remove any
contaminants that cause destabilization of the acid bath.
Therefore, the chain links and/or chain components preferably
rinsed at least twice after the cleaning, again preferably with tap
water at room temperature (steps 108, 110). The advantage to
rinsing the chain links and/or chain components twice is to get rid
of any solution that may have stayed with the chain links and/or
chain components which might be carried to the next step.
[0028] Next, the chain links and/or chain components are immersed
in an acid bath (step 112). The acid bath may contain sulfuric
and/or hydrochloric acid, which is activated by diluting the acid
at room temperature with distilled water until an appropriate
concentration range is reached. The concentration range is
preferably 5-10% for sulfuric acid and 30-50% for hydrochloric
acid.
[0029] The chain links and/or chain components are then rinsed at
least twice, again preferably with tap water at room temperature,
for at least one minute each (steps 114, 116).
[0030] The chain links and/or chain components are then deposited
in a bath to receive the electroless nickel coating including hard
particles (step 118). In one embodiment, the bath includes
de-ionized water and silicon carbide (SiC) of 0.5 Kg/L at a
temperature of 180.degree. F.-190.degree. F. at a pH of 4.8-5.2. In
another embodiment, the bath includes de-ionized water and silicon
carbide (SiC) of 0.5 Kg/L at a temperature of 185.degree. F. at a
pH of 5.0. The coating time varies and depends on the coating
thickness preferred. The coating rate is approximately 6 microns
per hour. A thickness between 14 to 25 microns is ideal to reduce
chain wear, with 25 microns being preferred.
[0031] The bath solution is agitated when the coating is being
applied to the chain links and/or chain components to maintain bath
homogeneity and consistent finish, for example by air blowers or
mechanical agitation. A filter of at least 10 microns or finer may
be used with the bath and may be part of a filter bag system.
[0032] In other embodiments, other carbides or nitrides formed
using the following elements: boron, chromium or vanadium may be
used to form boron nitrate, boron carbide, chromium carbide,
chromium nitride, and vanadium carbide, and vanadium nitride. The
temperature and the pH as discussed above would be used for these
other carbide and nitrides. Additionally, the hard particles may
also be comprised of natural diamond and synthetic diamond-like
carbon (DLC) particles.
[0033] It should be noted that the concentration of hard particles
in the plating bath and plating rate would change based on particle
type. For example, for boron nitride particles, the concentration
of boron nitride particles needs to be 100 g/L of solution and
plating rate is about 19 microns per hour.
[0034] The chain links and/or chain components are then rinsed at
least twice, again preferably with tap water at room temperature
(steps 120, 122) for at least two minutes.
[0035] The chain links and/or chain components are then dried (step
124), for example by compressed air, and the method ends.
[0036] Evaluations were performed to determine the wear
characterization of electroless nickel coated links containing hard
particles of silicon carbide. The wear test results have shown
improvement in wear performance.
[0037] FIG. 4 shows a graph comparing the wear performance of two
chains: a chain with Ni--SiC electroless coated chain links and
carbo-nitrided pins, and a chain with carbo-nitrided pins but
without coated links. The base material of the chain links is 1055
steel.
[0038] The chains were run at 5000 rpm for 100 hours using oil with
0.2% soot and 1000N of torque. The performance was measured by
percent of chain elongation and test hours.
[0039] In order to measure chain wear, the center distance (CD)
elongation of chain at a given speed and tension over time is
measured. Center distance is the distance between the shaft centers
of a chain and two-sprocket system. Chain center distance is
measured at time intervals during the test. The amount of chain
elongation from a new chain can be calculated at each time interval
using the following equation:
% Chain elongation = ( chain CD at t 1 - chain CD at t 0 chain CD
at t 0 ) .times. 100 ##EQU00001##
[0040] Where:
[0041] t.sub.0=time when the chain center distance is measured at
the start of the test and is considered to be a "new" chain
[0042] t.sub.1=time when the chain center distance is measured
after wear at each time interval
[0043] As shown in FIG. 4, the center distance (CD) elongation was
shown to be higher as the test hours increased. A chain with
electroless nickel coating containing hard particles is shown by
the line with circles in FIG. 4. A chain without the electroless
coating is shown by the line with squares. The chain with the
electroless nickel coating containing hard particles has less chain
elongation than the chain without the coating, therefore
demonstrating decreased wear.
[0044] FIG. 5 shows a graph of wear performance of two chains: a
chain with Ni--SiC electroless coated links and vanadium carbide
coated pins, and a. chain with vanadium carbide coated pins, but
without coated links. The base material of the chain links is 1055
steel.
[0045] The chains were run at 5000 rpm for 100 hours using a high
acid number oil (acidic oil) with 0.2% soot and 1000N of
torque.
[0046] In order to measure chain wear, the center distance (CD)
elongation of chain at a given speed and tension over time is
measured. Center distance is the distance between the shaft centers
of a chain and two-sprocket system. Chain center distance is
measured at each time interval. The amount of chain elongation that
is representative of chain wear is calculated using the equation
below.
[0047] As shown in FIG. 5, the center distance (CD) elongation was
shown to be higher as the test hours increased. A chain with
electroless nickel coating containing hard particles is shown by
the line with circles in FIG. 5. A chain without the electroless
coating is shown by the line with squares. The chain with the
electroless nickel coating containing hard particles has less chain
elongation than the chain without the coating, therefore
demonstrating decreased wear.
[0048] FIG. 6 shows the efficiency of chains with and without
electroless nickel coated links after performing wear tests. The
chains with the electroless nickel SiC coated links (indicated by
the solid lines) and in group 1 have a higher efficiency compared
to chains without electroless nicked coated links (indicated by the
dash-dot-dot lines) and in group 2 under different loads (indicated
by the difference symbols) and speeds.
[0049] Accordingly, it is to be understood that the embodiments of
the invention herein described are merely illustrative of the
application of the principles of the invention. Reference herein to
details of the illustrated embodiments is not intended to limit the
scope of the claims, which themselves recite those features
regarded as essential to the invention.
* * * * *